Huntress
by paedfoot
Summary: The story of Artemis-Graece, a muggleborn who lived up to her namesake, finding herself in a world of dragons, mermaids and magic. Join her as she goes to Hogwarts and learns about her abilities, as she makes her own family of friends and as she fights the frist wizarding war. ((marauders era))


The two young children ran through the cold manor, their small feet thumping across the floor. The sister and brother were scarily similar looking, both had been gifted with soft black hair and petite features. The most striking resemblance between them however were their eyes. They both had been gifted with different coloured eyes, their left eyes were a dark green and their right ones were a sparkling blue. This effect made other children their age wary of them but the twins did not particularly mind, they were enough for each other.

"Lo, slow down," the pretty girl giggled, chasing her speedy brother around the spacious home. Home might be a bit of a stretch as it would imply a warm love in the walls, a build up of affection from mother to son, father to daughter. House would be a more accurate term. Not that their parents didn't spoil them, they did. But it wasn't out of love, more of another way to spend their uncountable amount of money.

"What? You can't keep up? Tired already?" teased the small boy, smirking at his sister over his shoulder while simultaneously sprinting faster. He did a quick scan of the room he had just run into. The kitchen didn't have many hiding spaces and he could hear his little sister (only by 3 minutes, his sister would remind him every time) getting closer to the airy kitchen. He came to the somewhat ridiculous conclusion that if he jumped onto the counter his sister wouldn't be able to follow. His small, pale hands reached for the counter top and he heaved himself over with only a small amount of effort.

At that moment his sister came bounding into the room. Upon seeing her brother standing on the kitchen counter she began laughing, "Apollo!" she chastised, "Mother will kill you if you stand up there!" It was hard to take the girl seriously as she was laughing between all her words but the boy recognised that she was in fact right. His mother would be furious if she saw him. Wiping the grin that had formed on his face, he jumped down and grabbed his sister's hand, leading her out of the kitchen.

"Misty, shh. If she or Father hear they'll be mad. We have to stay quiet remember?" Apollo tried desperately, peeking around the corner to make sure neither of his parents or the maid were coming. Deciding the hallway was clear, he again pulled his sister's hand and lead her up the stairs to their playroom. "They'll stop us from going into town again," he whispered. He knew this would get his sister to stop making noise, she enjoyed trips into town. Despite their mother's annoyance at "commoners" they were both quite fond of the dirty playground and the messy children who never feared horrible punishments. True to Apollo's prediction, "Misty" quickly quietened and let her brother lead her to their playroom.

"Lo, can you do that thing with the doll again?" whispered his sister. Apollo didn't answer her right away, instead choosing to sit down on one of the child-sized chairs in the playroom the two had just entered.

"Artemis, if I do it you have to promise that you will stay quiet and listen to me, okay?"

"You're no fun," pouted Artemis, "Mother's probably on the other side of the house anyway, she won't see you doing it." He continued looking at her expectantly. After a few minutes of their staring game his sister relented and agreed to his terms.

Apollo bent down and picked up one of Artemis' dolls. Placing his sister's favourite doll gently onto the table, he took a step back as his sister eagerly sat down to his left. With an expression of intense concentration on his face, he lifted his hand without realising. A small stream of smoke began billowing out of the doll's blonde hair when suddenly the small lump of hair on her head became black. Exhaling heavily, Apollo sat down on the floor next to his sister feeling strangely exhausted. Artemis clapped her hands in joy and laughed before her face developed an expression of someone who's just had a brilliant idea.

"Should I try make one of her eyes green then?" Artemis asked, grinning mischievously. "Then she'll look like us!" He shrugged in response, not too concerned about whether doll looked like them or not. His mind was preoccupied thinking about what he'd just done. Nobody else he knew could change the colour of something at will. The thought brought a smug smile to his face.

Apollo turned his attention back to his sister who was trying very hard to change the doll's eye colour. It took all of his self-control to not burst out laughing at her face. Her features were all scrunched up and she looked almost like she was in some kind of pain. A sudden shout of victory brought his eyes to the doll who now had eyes like him and his twin. Artemis looked at him searchingly but relaxed when Apollo grinned and made a thumbs-up gesture in her direction.

"Since we're named named after Greek Gods, we could name her after one too," suggested Apollo.

Artemis shook her head, "Yes but we were named after twins so she wouldn't fit." She tapped her chin with her index finger, thinking. "We could give her my middle name? Graece is a quite lovely name," she turned to her brother, seeking his approval.

"It's your doll, so it makes sense," he agreed, nodding. He really didn't care what his sister named the doll but with his sister so eager to name the toy he agreed with the first thing that she said in hopes of ending the conversation he'd accidentally started.

He hoped their mother wouldn't find out about what they'd just done. The last time him and his sister had done something like this they had been banned from seeing each other for 3 days. Those 3 days were borderline unbearable as Artemis was his really his only friend. They'd also had to skip dinner that night and they didn't get desert for 3 weeks. His young body shook with the horrible memory, desert was the best part of the day! His mother was convinced her children were "touched by the devil". Apollo thought this was ridiculous, the devil would never approach somebody named after a mythical god.

Despite his mother and father's silly theories, he sought their approval constantly and disliked going behind his parent's backs. Artemis on the other hand had very little qualms about lying to their mother or directly disobeying an order. In fact, now that he thought about it, she sort of seemed to revel in going against their mother and father's orders. She was a brilliant liar and had gotten the two of them out of an uncountable number of problems. He didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing yet.

He continued looking up at the intricately painted ceiling and recalled the ball his mother had organised for his and Artemis' birthday. It had been absolutely horrific. He hoped he would never have to suffer through anything like that again. All the rich and over-perfumed women had cooed at him like he was some kind of baby and the balding men had congratulated him for getting another year closer to being a man. Artemis for all her skills at escaping bad situations had been unable to as all the fake women talked about how she was getting more more beautiful as the years went on (complete cow dung in Apollo's opinion) and his father's "friends" had complimented her taste in food (his mother had told everyone that Artemis had chosen the cuisine when in reality she had just told her what desert she wanted).

The whole event had been a series of awkward introductions to different adults. The amount of other ten year olds at the ball was one, Zacharias Efferson. His father was the head of an international company that made millions of dollars, not too different from their own family. The purpose of the birthday ball wasn't for him and Artemis, Apollo knew, it was to get all his father's business associates in one place to effectively sway them all at once. Apollo thought this was unneeded seeing as his family probably had enough money to last them ten lifetimes. His parents obviously thought differently.

The sun had begun setting and streaks of red, pink and golden streamed into the room creating a beautiful mix of colour on the wall opposite the window. Apollo had always found it amusing how he loved the sun so much and she loved the moon so much. It was as if their namesakes had somehow affected their way of thinking. Knowing that time for dinner was coming close he got up from his comfortable position on the ground and stood up.

"Misty, its almost time for dinner, we better wash up before Mother sends the maid after us," Apollo spoke, stretching his hand out for Artemis to grab. His parents had gotten increasingly annoyed with the state of their children at the dinner table and had eventually told them that they would not be served any dinner unless they bathed before coming to the table.

Artemis quickly got up, she had realised that she was quite hungry. They both left the room, not bothering to pack up, that was the maid's job. They walked along the long corridor, passing paintings with breathtaking detail and ornaments that had been in their family for generations. Arriving at the point were the hallway split into two different corridors, they separated to walk off to their rooms and get cleaned up.

Artemis walked into her bedroom, now bathed in reds and yellows form the setting sun, and shut her door behind her. She stripped down to her underclothes and lay her dress on her bed to wear after her bath. She walked to the adjoined bathroom on the side of her room. She quickly took off her underclothes and got into the already prepared tub. Knowing that her maid usually arrived a few minutes after she started her bath, Artemis just lay peacefully in the water. Watching the water around her bubble, Artemis was shaken out of her thoughts by a soft slam of her bedroom door.

Melinda, Artemis' maid, walked into the room and smiled at the sight of the small girl in the large bath. It made Artemis look smaller than she really was.

"Afternoon, Artemis. I'm surprised I haven't seen you earlier today, usually you and your brother don't calm down until I'm sent to get you under control," said the aged woman, pulling out different oils and creams for the bathing girl.

Artemis grinned, "Apollo and I realised that Mother and Father could hear us so we went to the other side of the house today."

"Ah, you two really are quite clever you know?" commented Melinda, pouring delicious scented oils into her palms and rubbing them together.

"I'm the clever one," Artemis said, "Apollo wouldn't be able to find his way out of a bag without me."

"I'm sure," said the maid, "now put your head back so I can wash your hair properly."

Following Melinda's instructions without complaint, Artemis was bathed and dressed much faster than usual. Artemis followed her maid out of the door and they both made their way to the kitchens and the dining room. The walk was a quiet one but Artemis nor Melinda minded much. Melinda soon left her for the kitchens were the other maids were, preparing the food for dinner. Artemis walked into the dining room, trying to remain out of her parents sight.

"Artemis, come sit at the table, stop hanging about in the shadows." Artemis sighed, _too late now. _Artemis walked out to the person the command had come from.

"I apologise Father, I thought I heard Apollo approaching and thought I'd walk in with him," lied Artemis. "Good Evening," she added quickly seeing him begin to frown. She turned to her mother and repeated her greeting and then quickly made her way to her place at the table. She wasn't even fully seated when a voice came from behind her.

"Good Evening Father, Mother," said her brother as he nodded to each parent in turn.

When the whole family was comfortably seated, her mother picked up a small bell that was placed in the middle of the table. The high tinkling sound was clear in the silence of the small family. At the signal of the bell, their food was served. Artemis wasn't sure exactly what it was, but it was quite satisfying and she found herself wanting more but her mother had strictly banned her from asking for seconds months go.

Shortly after the four Mathias' had finished their dessert, they all went to the library. It was routine. Every day they would eat dinner, go to the library for an hour or two then head off to their private chambers for the night.

It might've seemed boring but the two twins were perfectly content with their lives.

About two months later, Artemis was standing in the middle of the most chaotic street she'd ever seen. There were yells and shouts coming from the large amount of people as they pushed through the crowds, there was a weird smell too and most bizarrely of all, almost every person in the crowd was wearing a robe and carried a thin stick of wood. _No, a wand_, Artemis corrected herself.

She felt out of place in her expensive dress and held on to her maid's hand a little tighter than before, her knuckles looking even whiter against Melinda's darker skin. The both of them had stopped mid-step at the sight of Diagon Alley and were standing to the side, turning their heads back and forth to try and see all of it.

"Miss Mathias, we should get a move on if we are to get back by 7," said the man who had introduced himself as Professor Banetly. He had told Artemis that he taught Muggle Studies ("Our term for non-magical people," he'd explained), and that she would be able to take it in her third year at Hogwarts.

Snapping out of her amazed stupor she turned to the lean man, raising her eyebrows in a clear indication for him to take them to the first place on the agenda. He smiled in reply and lead them to a store called "Flourish and Blotts". Artemis immediately fell in love with the pretty bookstore that was stocked with all kinds of interesting wizarding books. She almost had to force her hands to remain by her sides and only pick up the books that she would need for Hogwarts. A school of magic. She had not stopped feeling as if she was in a dream since Professor McGonagall had come to her house and told her about Hogwarts and magic.

Her father had somehow gotten a bank account for her open already and she'd been given a large amount of money earlier that day to put into her account for later use. She checked the bag of money before declaring that she wanted to visit the bank. The three of them made their way through the street towards a large building made of what appeared to be white marble. Stepping inside the bank, Gringotts, Artemis was faintly surprised to see short creatures with pointy ears and teeth sitting behind all the desks but was careful not show it. '_Lo would have loved these creatu-'_ she stopped her train of thought immediately. She knew if she thought about it now it would be difficult to stay level-headed.

She stepped toward an empty desk where one of the creatures was scribbling on a piece of parchment with a quill. Clearing her throat, she tried to ignore the sudden pain that had erupted in her chest and stuck her chin up. "I would like to exchange some muggle money and put it into my vault," she said in a clear voice. The small creature looked up and studied her through his beady eyes.

"Name and vault number?"

"Artemis Graece Mathias, vault number 7658."

"Very well, where's the muggle money?"

She slid a bag filled with notes of varying worth across to him in reply. The creature didn't say anything and began the process of working out how much there was and how much wizarding money it would be worth.

After standing at the counter for what felt like an eternity, her money had successfully been put into her vault and she had also used her blood to create tighter security measures. She stood by the door and waited for Banetly and Melinda to join her. With her money taken care of, Artemis had a little over two hours to buy things for herself.

Within the next 2 hours she'd bought a new trunk (this particular model had a spell on it that only allowed the owner to open the lid), four bags with undetectable extension charms put on them (they had almost an infinite amount of space inside and as such were considerably expensive), a few casual robes, a wand holder for her and two books from Flourish and Blotts.

By the time she was done, it was nearing 7 o'clock. She and Melinda thanked Professor Banetly for helping them through Diagon Alley and got into the car the driver had brought to pick them up.

"Well that was something," commented Melinda smiling. Artemis snorted slightly, it was a lot more than just _something_.

She didn't let her tears fall, she knew it was likely that her parents wouldn't be able to come but knowing didn't stop it from hurting any less when her mother told her. She silently nodded and left the room to check everything was packed in her trunk. Entering the foyer, she saw her driver dragging the trunk to the car. Too tired to go after him to actually go through her whole list again, she let him go past her with her trunk. Artemis sighed tiredly, she felt as if she was hurting all the time, as if someone had stuck a knife in her and left it there. Sometimes, when she thought about _him_ the pain would start afresh and she'd almost collapse from the pain.

Stopping in front of one of the many mirrors in their house, she looked at herself. Her face was the same as ever, her eyes just as strangely coloured as they always were. Her left one looked a bit brighter but it was hard to tell with her other eye being a different colour. Dragging herself away from the mirror, Artemis straightened her light-blue skirt and walked back to say good-bye to her mother. Her father had already gone to work.

After a hasty farewell on both parts, she quickly walked outside to where her driver was waiting. She nodded towards him in a greeting and slipped into the backseat of the car. She turned back to look at her house one more time before she left and with a slight jolt she realised Melinda was watching the car from a window near where she assumed her bedroom was. She would miss her. Melinda had always been there for her, which was more than she could say about her actual parents. As she realised that she had begun to frown, she took a deep breath to control her features. Artemis leaned back in her seat and sighed, her house was on the outskirts of London and King's Cross Station was right in the centre of the city. _It would be safe to assume that this journey will take a while,_ she thought miserably.

Upon arriving at the bustling train station, Artemis had her driver load her possessions on to a trolley so she would be able to move her things herself. Her driver protested at leaving the nearly twelve year old on her own in such a crowded place but Artemis told him she was to meet with a fellow student to get on the train. He believed her lie without a second thought and left with a short handshake and good wishes for her year ahead.

Artemis reached into the pocket on her silky skirt and took out an envelope, from which she pulled out a train ticket. Reading the details on the ticket, she looked up to find her platform. After checking her ticket twice more and looking about the whole station, Artemis came to the troubling conclusion that her assigned platform didn't exist. Pushing down her panic, she looked around for anyone else that might look like a witch or a wizard.

She had barely begun her search when her eyes fell upon a young boy pushing a battered trunk with a small logo that looked quite similar to the one on her letter. Not wanting to lose her only chance at getting on her train, Artemis quickly pushed her trolley forward and approached the boy who appeared to be with his mother. They were both had a weathered look about them but they seemed nice enough.

"Excuse me, do you know where I could find platform 9 and 3/4?" said Artemis, pulling alongside the small family, hoping they wouldn't ignore her and keep on walking.

"You just run through the wall of platform 9," said the older woman. Artemis stared at her as though she'd said something completely insane (which, as far as Artemis was concerned, she had). Seeing her look of disbelief, the boy's mother laughed slightly, her blue eyes crinkling around the edges. "Remus can go through first and show you how," she said pointing at her son who appeared to have inherited his mother's bright blue eyes. The boy, _Remus_, nodded in her general direction but didn't look up at her.

The trio approached the brick column marking platform 9 and slowed. Remus looked at the wall with a certain level of apprehension and turned back to his mother. Remus' mother nodded at him with a soft smile, "Go on love, we'll be right behind you." He turned back and took a deep breath and then-

"Where did he go?" asked Artemis with some surprise, he'd completely disappeared.

"Platform 9 and 3/4, right where we're headed," replied the woman. Artemis gripped the handle of her trolley tight, said a quick prayer and then she was walking right toward the wall. She cringed and _went right through the wall_. She quickly spun around in time to see Remus' mother come through the wall. She turned back around slowly to see what Platform 9 and 3/4 looked like.

It was full of people dressed in robes and teenagers running around hugging each other. Artemis started at the hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Remus' mum smiling down at her, "You two had better get on the train before all the compartments are filled up." Artemis nodded and stepped aside.

"I'll go save us a few seats," she said to Remus. "Thank you for your help," she nodded to the kind lady.

"It was no problem," she smiled, "but I don't think I caught your name?"

"Artemis Graece" Artemis replied. "Its my middle name, I prefer not to use my last name", she continued. Noticing Remus' slightly uncomfortable expression and the way his eyes kept darting to his mother she quickly left the two to get on to the train and save a few seats for Remus and herself like she'd promised.


End file.
